In hotel revenue management, length of stay (LOS) is the number of nights in a reservation. Hotels use minimum- and maximum-stay rules, alongside arrival and departure restrictions, to manage which bookings can use particular dates. This practical manual explains the measures, the controls and the trade-offs involved.
What does length of stay mean in hotel revenue management?
Length of stay (LOS) is the number of nights in a guest’s hotel booking. It describes an individual reservation, not a hotel-wide average. CoStar STR Benchmark uses the same definition in its hotel performance glossary.
Average length of stay (ALOS)
Average length of stay summarizes reservation duration across a group of bookings. The National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (NCHMCT) gives this formula:
ALOS = total room nights ÷ number of reservations
For example, 100 room nights divided by 40 bookings gives an ALOS of 2.5 nights. This is a worked educational example in the NCHMCT ebook, not an industry-wide benchmark.
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What do MinLOS and MaxLOS mean?
| Control | What it requires | Typical inventory-management purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum length of stay (MinLOS) | A reservation must include at least a specified number of nights. | Encourage bookings that include adjacent nights around a date with constrained or strong demand. |
| Maximum length of stay (MaxLOS) | A reservation cannot exceed a specified number of nights. | Limit the duration of eligible bookings; IDeaS defines it as a room-inventory control function. |
For example, the NCHMCT ebook describes setting a two-night minimum over a high-demand long weekend. A guest seeking to book only one of the constrained nights would not meet that rule. Whether the restriction applies to a particular rate, room type, channel or inventory pool depends on how the hotel’s systems are configured.
Which hotel stay restrictions can you apply?
Duration rules are only one way to control booking patterns. Xotels’ revenue-management manual lists these related options:
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- Minimum stay: sets the fewest nights a reservation may cover.
- Maximum stay: sets the most nights a reservation may cover.
- Combined minimum and maximum: sets both a lower and an upper duration limit.
- Closed to arrival (CTA): prevents a reservation from starting on the restricted date while potentially allowing stays that began earlier.
- Closed to departure (CTD): prevents a reservation from ending on the restricted date while potentially allowing guests to stay through it.
- Stay-through restriction: applies a rule to reservations that include a specified date, rather than only to bookings arriving or departing that day.
CTA and CTD affect the arrival or departure pattern; MinLOS and MaxLOS govern duration. Stay-through rules can connect a restriction to whether a booking includes a date. Names, behavior and availability vary across property-management, central-reservation and distribution systems, so confirm the exact meaning in the hotel’s platform.
When should a hotel use stay controls?
Protecting a peak date without losing adjacent nights
A short booking on a busy date can leave nearby nights harder to sell as a continuous stay. A MinLOS rule can encourage reservations that include shoulder nights—the nights before or after the peak. The NCHMCT ebook’s long-weekend example illustrates this approach. Xotels advises assessing the revenue effect on those shoulder dates rather than considering the peak night alone.
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Balancing inventory protection against booking access
A restriction can steer demand toward a preferred stay pattern, but it can also make an otherwise available room ineligible for a guest whose trip does not meet the rule. A minimum may discourage short stays; a maximum may rule out longer bookings. The relevant question is not simply whether demand is high, but whether the expected benefit on the affected dates outweighs the bookings the rule could exclude.
Choosing a tactical rule or a persistent setup
TUI BLUE’s operator guidance distinguishes long-term or permanent restrictions, which belong in rate setup or pricing rules, from short-term restrictions that are better handled tactically or as exceptions. A date-specific intervention should therefore be reviewed as demand changes; a persistent rule should reflect the intended ongoing pricing structure.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to choose and review a restriction
There is no universal quantitative threshold in the cited guidance for when a hotel should apply a stay restriction. Assess the rule against the actual dates, inventory and demand conditions:
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- Identify the dates and demand pattern. Determine which nights are constrained and whether the issue is the peak date, the surrounding shoulder nights, or both.
- Define the desired booking pattern. Use MinLOS or MaxLOS for duration limits; consider CTA or CTD when the concern is the arrival or departure date.
- Set the scope deliberately. Check which room types, rates, channels and inventory the restriction will affect in the hotel’s own systems.
- Consider both the nights gained and bookings excluded. Assess whether a longer stay would help fill shoulder nights and whether the rule could turn away a guest who would otherwise book.
- Verify system behavior before publishing. Confirm how the property-management, central-reservation and distribution systems interpret and transmit the restriction; not every platform supports every control.
- Choose a review point. Reassess tactical rules as conditions change and remove or adjust them when their intended purpose no longer applies. Keep persistent rules in the appropriate rate or pricing setup.
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